People want to be outdoors in various climates, including dry, hot climates and hot humid climates. People are sometimes outdoors in open-air vehicles such as golf carts, “Jeeps” and other convertible sport utility vehicles, dune buggies, motorcycles, boats, tractors and other agricultural or construction vehicles that have an open-air occupant compartment. In some climates, it may be uncomfortable to ride in these vehicles during the hottest parts of the year or times when it is very humid because the heat in the ambient air or the humidity becomes intolerable. Thus, it is desirable to provide a way of cooling the occupants of these open-air vehicles.
Evaporative cooling systems for vehicles are known in which air cooled by evaporation is blown into the occupant compartment of the vehicle. These systems are based on a general concept of a pump spraying water onto a pad or filter, saturating it. A fan draws hot air through the pad and blows the resulting cooled air into the vehicle. Typically, these relatively large apparatus are mounted to the roof of vehicles.
Another method of evaporative cooling involves spraying a fine mist of water into the ambient air in which the mist absorbs the heat and cools the air via evaporative cooling, and the mist settles onto the skin of the occupant and cools the occupant through direct evaporation. Mister nozzles are well known in the southwestern United States and are commonly used for cooling large areas of property, such as patios and spectator stands at ballparks. Due to the need for a large water source and pumping system, these known misting apparatus are stationary.
A known misting system for golf carts exists which works well in dry environments, but does not work well in humid environments. This known misting system also does not have any fans, which cool persons more effectively in humid environments. This system also does not have any on-board payment system so that the occupant of the vehicle can choose to pay for the misting. Thus, it is desirable to provide an open air vehicle cooling system and method that can be used in dry or humid environments and can incorporate a fan and payment system and it is to this end that the disclosure is directed.